As the sun fell beneath the horizon, it seemed as if the Aggies were desperate to maintain the light inside the confines of Olsen Field.
So naturally, they lit their bats on fire.
Thursday night’s April 13 matchup against the University of Missouri signified the beginning of another three-game SEC series for Texas A&M baseball, as well as the opportunity for the team to chase its third straight conference series win of the season.
In order to do that, however, the maroon and white would need to build momentum with a dominant Game 1 win — especially following the offensive plunders the team experienced in its loss to the University of Texas at San Antonio on Tuesday, April 11.
“We knew it wasn’t our night on the plate and on the mound,” junior DH Ryan Targac said. “We just understood the things that we needed to work on.”
After the single day break, the Aggies were more than ready to re-enter the win column against the struggling Tigers and restart their offensive momentum. On the mound to provide them with a solid defensive foundation was junior RHP Nathan Dettmer, the only pre-determined starter of the series.
A quick 1-2-3 top of the first inning set the tone for the game, but Missouri was quick to find Dettmer’s weak spots and prey upon his growing inability to throw strikes.
The second inning saw Dettmer load the bases, pitching himself into a corner with a series of ill-placed fastballs and untimely walks. Despite being able to regain his composure and minimize the damage to a single run from the opposing team, Dettmer’s time on the mound ended in the third inning after allowing the Tigers a two-run home run.
“There was no command of his fastball, and the only pitch he could throw for a strike was a slider,” coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “It just wasn’t his night — nobody feels worse than him.”
Junior 3B Trevor Werner’s solo shot in the second inning tied the game before Missouri retook the lead with a home run, and the Aggies entered the bottom of the third inning with a 3-1 deficit.
The bottom of the frame began with four straight walks administered to junior C Hank Bard, junior SS Hunter Haas, junior 1B Jack Moss and senior 2B Austin Bost. Bost’s trip to first base would walk in a run for A&M, leaving the Tigers with a one-run lead as Werner stepped to the plate once again.
With the fifth walk of the inning, the game was tied 3-3.
But the Aggies were not done.
A bases-loaded single from freshman LF Jace LaViolette would score Moss, and a base hit from Targac scored both Bost and Werner.
Just like that, an offensive frenzy had begun.
A double steal from LaViolette and Targac resulted in an error from the Tigers, allowing another run to score, and a 2-run home run into left field off the bat of senior CF Jordan Thompson further widened the maroon and white’s lead.
After another slew of errors and well-timed base hits from Haas and Moss, Missouri had made three pitching changes and A&M had taken a 10-3 lead as the third frame concluded.
“Our main goal was to just win each pitch, it’s what we take pride in,” Targac said. “If there’s a ball, we’re taking it. If there’s a strike, we’re getting a swing off on it.”
The nine runs matched the previously-held record for most runs scored in a single inning this season, which had been recorded in February against Houston Christian.
Despite scoring two more runs off of freshman LHP Shade Sdao, who entered the game to relieve Dettmer in the fourth inning, the Tigers were unable to create a rally powerful enough to suffocate the Aggies’ lead.
A fifth inning sacrifice fly from senior RF Brett Minnich would send Haas home from third base, and a wild pitch later in the frame would allow Bost to score. After a ground out from Moss scored Haas once more in the seventh, A&M’s lead had shifted to 13-5 — one that they would maintain to win the game.
“It wasn’t exactly the cleanest Aggie baseball, but a win is a win,” Targac said.
A&M’s series against the Tigers will continue on Friday, April 14, at 7 p.m., with the final matchup of the weekend slated for Saturday, April 15, at 12:30 p.m.